IIB 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 12, 2017 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

To reform the process by which Federal agencies analyze 

and formulate new regulations and guidance documents, 

to clarify the nature of judicial review of agency interpretations, to ensure complete analysis of potential impacts 

on small entities of rules, and for other purposes. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Regulatory Accountability Act of 2017’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—REGULATORY ACCOUNTABILITY ACT 

Sec. 101. Short title. 

Sec. 102. Definitions. 

Sec. 103. Rule making. 

Sec. 104. Agency guidance; procedures to issue major guidance; presidential authority to issue guidelines for issuance of guidance. 

Sec. 105. Hearings; presiding employees; powers and duties; burden of proof; 

evidence; record as basis of decision. 

Sec. 106. Actions reviewable. 

Sec. 107. Scope of review. 

Sec. 108. Added definition. 

Sec. 109. Effective date. 

Sec. 110. Prompt issuance of OIRA guidelines. 

TITLE II—SEPARATION OF POWERS RESTORATION ACT 

Sec. 201. Short title. 

Sec. 202. Judicial review of statutory and regulatory interpretations. 

TITLE III—SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY 

IMPROVEMENTS ACT 

Sec. 301. Short title. 

Sec. 302. Clarification and expansion of rules covered by the regulatory flexibility act. 

Sec. 303. Expansion of report of regulatory agenda. 

Sec. 304. Requirements providing for more detailed analyses. 

Sec. 305. Repeal of waiver and delay authority; additional powers of the Chief 

Counsel for advocacy. 

Sec. 306. Procedures for gathering comments. 

Sec. 307. Periodic review of rules. 

Sec. 308. Judicial review of compliance with the requirements of the regulatory 

flexibility act available after publication of the final rule. 

Sec. 309. Jurisdiction of court of appeals over rules implementing the regulatory flexibility act. 

Sec. 310. Establishment and approval of small business concern size standards 

by Chief Counsel for Advocacy. 

Sec. 311. Clerical amendments. 


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Sec. 312. Agency preparation of guides. 

Sec. 313. Comptroller general report. 

TITLE IV—REQUIRE EVALUATION BEFORE IMPLEMENTING 

EXECUTIVE WISHLISTS ACT 

Sec. 401. Short title. 

Sec. 402. Relief pending review. 

TITLE V—ALL ECONOMIC REGULATIONS ARE TRANSPARENT ACT 

Sec. 501. Short title. 

Sec. 502. Office of information and regulatory affairs publication of information relating to rules. 

TITLE VI—PROVIDING ACCOUNTABILITY THROUGH 

TRANSPARENCY ACT 

Sec. 601. Short title. 

Sec. 602. Requirement to post a 100 word summary to regulations.gov. 

1 TITLE I—REGULATORY 

2 ACCOUNTABILITY ACT 

3 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Regulatory Account5 ability Act’’. 

6 SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS. 

7 Section 551 of title 5, United States Code, is amend8 ed— 

9 (1) in paragraph (13), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

10 end; 

11 (2) in paragraph (14), by striking the period at 

12 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

13 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(15) ‘major rule’ means any rule that the Ad15 ministrator of the Office of Information and Regu16 latory Affairs determines is likely to impose— 


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1 ‘‘(A) an annual cost on the economy of 

2 $100,000,000 or more, adjusted annually for 

3 inflation; 

4 ‘‘(B) a major increase in costs or prices for 

5 consumers, individual industries, Federal, 

6 State, local, or tribal government agencies, or 

7 geographic regions; 

8 ‘‘(C) significant adverse effects on competi9 tion, employment, investment, productivity, in10 novation, or on the ability of United States11 based enterprises to compete with foreign-based 

12 enterprises in domestic and export markets; or 

13 ‘‘(D) significant impacts on multiple sec14 tors of the economy; 

15 ‘‘(16) ‘high-impact rule’ means any rule that 

16 the Administrator of the Office of Information and 

17 Regulatory Affairs determines is likely to impose an 

18 annual cost on the economy of $1,000,000,000 or 

19 more, adjusted annually for inflation; 

20 ‘‘(17) ‘negative-impact on jobs and wages rule’ 

21 means any rule that the agency that made the rule 

22 or the Administrator of the Office of Information 

23 and Regulatory Affairs determines is likely to— 

24 ‘‘(A) in one or more sectors of the economy 

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1 ican Industry Classification System, reduce em2 ployment not related to new regulatory compli3 ance by 1 percent or more annually during the 

4 1-year, 5-year, or 10-year period after imple5 mentation; 

6 ‘‘(B) in one or more sectors of the econ7 omy that has a 6-digit code under the North 

8 American Industry Classification System, re9 duce average weekly wages for employment not 

10 related to new regulatory compliance by 1 per11 cent or more annually during the 1-year, 5- 

12 year, or 10-year period after implementation; 

13 ‘‘(C) in any industry area (as such term is 

14 defined in the Current Population Survey con15 ducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics) in 

16 which the most recent annual unemployment 

17 rate for the industry area is greater than 5 per18 cent, as determined by the Bureau of Labor 

19 Statistics in the Current Population Survey, re20 duce employment not related to new regulatory 

21 compliance during the first year after imple22 mentation; or 

23 ‘‘(D) in any industry area in which the Bu24 reau of Labor Statistics projects in the Occupa25 tional Employment Statistics program that the 


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1 employment level will decrease by 1 percent or 

2 more, further reduce employment not related to 

3 new regulatory compliance during the first year 

4 after implementation; 

5 ‘‘(18) ‘guidance’ means an agency statement of 

6 general applicability and future effect, other than a 

7 regulatory action, that sets forth a policy on a statu8 tory, regulatory or technical issue or an interpreta9 tion of a statutory or regulatory issue; 

10 ‘‘(19) ‘major guidance’ means guidance that the 

11 Administrator of the Office of Information and Reg12 ulatory Affairs finds is likely to lead to— 

13 ‘‘(A) an annual cost on the economy of 

14 $100,000,000 or more, adjusted annually for 

15 inflation; 

16 ‘‘(B) a major increase in costs or prices for 

17 consumers, individual industries, Federal, 

18 State, local or tribal government agencies, or 

19 geographic regions; 

20 ‘‘(C) significant adverse effects on competi21 tion, employment, investment, productivity, in22 novation, or on the ability of United States23 based enterprises to compete with foreign-based 

24 enterprises in domestic and export markets; or 


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1 ‘‘(D) significant impacts on multiple sec2 tors of the economy; 

3 ‘‘(20) the ‘Information Quality Act’ means sec4 tion 515 of Public Law 106–554, the Treasury and 

5 General Government Appropriations Act for Fiscal 

6 Year 2001, and guidelines issued by the Adminis7 trator of the Office of Information and Regulatory 

8 Affairs or other agencies pursuant to the Act; and 

9 ‘‘(21) the ‘Office of Information and Regulatory 

10 Affairs’ means the office established under section 

11 3503 of chapter 35 of title 44 and any successor to 

12 that office.’’. 

13 SEC. 103. RULE MAKING. 

14 (a) Section 553(a) of title 5, United States Code, is 

15 amended by striking ‘‘(a) This section applies’’ and insert16 ing ‘‘(a) APPLICABILITY.—This section applies’’. 

17 (b) Section 553 of title 5, United States Code, is 

18 amended by striking subsections (b) through (e) and in19 serting the following: 

20 ‘‘(b) RULE MAKING CONSIDERATIONS.—In a rule 

21 making, an agency shall make all preliminary and final 

22 factual determinations based on evidence and consider, in 

23 addition to other applicable considerations, the following: 

24 ‘‘(1) The legal authority under which a rule 

25 may be proposed, including whether a rule making 


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1 is required by statute, and if so, whether by a spe2 cific date, or whether the agency has discretion to 

3 commence a rule making. 

4 ‘‘(2) Other statutory considerations applicable 

5 to whether the agency can or should propose a rule 

6 or undertake other agency action. 

7 ‘‘(3) The specific nature and significance of the 

8 problem the agency may address with a rule (includ9 ing the degree and nature of risks the problem poses 

10 and the priority of addressing those risks compared 

11 to other matters or activities within the agency’s ju12 risdiction), whether the problem warrants new agen13 cy action, and the countervailing risks that may be 

14 posed by alternatives for new agency action. 

15 ‘‘(4) Whether existing rules have created or 

16 contributed to the problem the agency may address 

17 with a rule and whether those rules could be amend18 ed or rescinded to address the problem in whole or 

19 part. 

20 ‘‘(5) Any reasonable alternatives for a new rule 

21 or other response identified by the agency or inter22 ested persons, including not only responses that 

23 mandate particular conduct or manners of compli24 ance, but also— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the alternative of no Federal re2 sponse; 

3 ‘‘(B) amending or rescinding existing 

4 rules; 

5 ‘‘(C) potential regional, State, local, or 

6 tribal regulatory action or other responses that 

7 could be taken in lieu of agency action; and 

8 ‘‘(D) potential responses that— 

9 ‘‘(i) specify performance objectives 

10 rather than conduct or manners of compli11 ance; 

12 ‘‘(ii) establish economic incentives to 

13 encourage desired behavior; 

14 ‘‘(iii) provide information upon which 

15 choices can be made by the public; or 

16 ‘‘(iv) incorporate other innovative al17 ternatives rather than agency actions that 

18 specify conduct or manners of compliance. 

19 ‘‘(6) Notwithstanding any other provision of 

20 law— 

21 ‘‘(A) the potential costs and benefits asso22 ciated with potential alternative rules and other 

23 responses considered under section 553(b)(5), 

24 including direct, indirect, and cumulative costs 

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1 cluding an estimate of the net gain or loss in 

2 domestic jobs), wages, economic growth, innova3 tion, economic competitiveness, and impacts on 

4 low income populations; 

5 ‘‘(B) means to increase the cost-effective6 ness of any Federal response; and 

7 ‘‘(C) incentives for innovation, consistency, 

8 predictability, lower costs of enforcement and 

9 compliance (to government entities, regulated 

10 entities, and the public), and flexibility. 

11 ‘‘(c) ADVANCE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE MAKING

12 FOR MAJOR RULES, HIGH-IMPACT RULES, NEGATIVE-IM13 PACT ON JOBS AND WAGES RULES, AND RULES INVOLV14 ING NOVEL LEGAL OR POLICY ISSUES.—In the case of 

15 a rule making for a major rule, a high-impact rule, a nega16 tive-impact on jobs and wages rule, or a rule that involves 

17 a novel legal or policy issue arising out of statutory man18 dates, not later than 90 days before a notice of proposed 

19 rule making is published in the Federal Register, an agen20 cy shall publish advance notice of proposed rule making 

21 in the Federal Register. In publishing such advance notice, 

22 the agency shall— 

23 ‘‘(1) include a written statement identifying, at 

24 a minimum— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the nature and significance of the 

2 problem the agency may address with a rule, in3 cluding data and other evidence and informa4 tion on which the agency expects to rely for the 

5 proposed rule; 

6 ‘‘(B) the legal authority under which a rule 

7 may be proposed, including whether a rule mak8 ing is required by statute, and if so, whether by 

9 a specific date, or whether the agency has dis10 cretion to commence a rule making; 

11 ‘‘(C) preliminary information available to 

12 the agency concerning the other considerations 

13 specified in subsection (b); 

14 ‘‘(D) in the case of a rule that involves a 

15 novel legal or policy issue arising out of statu16 tory mandates, the nature of and potential rea17 sons to adopt the novel legal or policy position 

18 upon which the agency may base a proposed 

19 rule; and 

20 ‘‘(E) an achievable objective for the rule 

21 and metrics by which the agency will measure 

22 progress toward that objective; 

23 ‘‘(2) solicit written data, views or argument 

24 from interested persons concerning the information 

25 and issues addressed in the advance notice; and 


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1 ‘‘(3) provide for a period of not fewer than 60 

2 days for interested persons to submit such written 

3 data, views, or argument to the agency. 

4 ‘‘(d) NOTICES OF PROPOSED RULE MAKING; DETER5 MINATIONS OF OTHER AGENCY COURSE.—(1) Before it 

6 determines to propose a rule, and following completion of 

7 procedures under subsection (c), if applicable, the agency 

8 shall consult with the Administrator of the Office of Infor9 mation and Regulatory Affairs. If the agency thereafter 

10 determines to propose a rule, the agency shall publish a 

11 notice of proposed rule making, which shall include— 

12 ‘‘(A) a statement of the time, place, and nature 

13 of public rule making proceedings; 

14 ‘‘(B) reference to the legal authority under 

15 which the rule is proposed; 

16 ‘‘(C) the terms of the proposed rule; 

17 ‘‘(D) a description of information known to the 

18 agency on the subject and issues of the proposed 

19 rule, including but not limited to— 

20 ‘‘(i) a summary of information known to 

21 the agency concerning the considerations speci22 fied in subsection (b); 

23 ‘‘(ii) a summary of additional information 

24 the agency provided to and obtained from inter25 ested persons under subsection (c); 


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1 ‘‘(iii) a summary of any preliminary risk 

2 assessment or regulatory impact analysis per3 formed by the agency; and 

4 ‘‘(iv) information specifically identifying all 

5 data, studies, models, and other evidence or in6 formation considered or used by the agency in 

7 connection with its determination to propose 

8 the rule; 

9 ‘‘(E)(i) a reasoned preliminary determination of 

10 need for the rule based on the information described 

11 under subparagraph (D); 

12 ‘‘(ii) an additional statement of whether a rule 

13 is required by statute; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) an achievable objective for the rule and 

15 metrics by which the agency will measure progress 

16 toward that objective; 

17 ‘‘(F) a reasoned preliminary determination that 

18 the benefits of the proposed rule meet the relevant 

19 statutory objectives and justify the costs of the pro20 posed rule (including all costs to be considered under 

21 subsection (b)(6)), based on the information de22 scribed under subparagraph (D); 

23 ‘‘(G) a discussion of— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the alternatives to the proposed rule, 

2 and other alternative responses, considered by 

3 the agency under subsection (b); 

4 ‘‘(ii) the costs and benefits of those alter5 natives (including all costs to be considered 

6 under subsection (b)(6)); 

7 ‘‘(iii) whether those alternatives meet rel8 evant statutory objectives; and 

9 ‘‘(iv) why the agency did not propose any 

10 of those alternatives; and 

11 ‘‘(H)(i) a statement of whether existing rules 

12 have created or contributed to the problem the agen13 cy seeks to address with the proposed rule; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) if so, whether or not the agency proposes 

15 to amend or rescind any such rules, and why. 

16 All information provided to or considered by the agency, 

17 and steps to obtain information by the agency, in connec18 tion with its determination to propose the rule, including 

19 any preliminary risk assessment or regulatory impact 

20 analysis prepared by the agency and all other information 

21 prepared or described by the agency under subparagraph 

22 (D) and, at the discretion of the President or the Adminis23 trator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

24 information provided by that Office in consultations with 

25 the agency, shall be placed in the docket for the proposed 


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1 rule and made accessible to the public by electronic means 

2 and otherwise for the public’s use when the notice of pro3 posed rule making is published. 

4 ‘‘(2)(A) If the agency undertakes procedures under 

5 subsection (c) and determines thereafter not to propose 

6 a rule, the agency shall, following consultation with the 

7 Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, publish a 

8 notice of determination of other agency course. A notice 

9 of determination of other agency course shall include in10 formation required by paragraph (1)(D) to be included in 

11 a notice of proposed rule making and a description of the 

12 alternative response the agency determined to adopt. 

13 ‘‘(B) If in its determination of other agency course 

14 the agency makes a determination to amend or rescind 

15 an existing rule, the agency need not undertake additional 

16 proceedings under subsection (c) before it publishes a no17 tice of proposed rule making to amend or rescind the exist18 ing rule. 

19 All information provided to or considered by the agency, 

20 and steps to obtain information by the agency, in connec21 tion with its determination of other agency course, includ22 ing but not limited to any preliminary risk assessment or 

23 regulatory impact analysis prepared by the agency and all 

24 other information that would be required to be prepared 

25 or described by the agency under paragraph (1)(D) if the 


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1 agency had determined to publish a notice of proposed rule 

2 making and, at the discretion of the President or the Ad3 ministrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory 

4 Affairs, information provided by that Office in consulta5 tions with the agency, shall be placed in the docket for 

6 the determination and made accessible to the public by 

7 electronic means and otherwise for the public’s use when 

8 the notice of determination is published. 

9 ‘‘(3) After notice of proposed rule making required 

10 by this section, the agency shall provide interested persons 

11 an opportunity to participate in the rule making through 

12 submission of written data, views, or arguments with or 

13 without opportunity for oral presentation, except that— 

14 ‘‘(A) if a hearing is required under paragraph 

15 (4)(B) or subsection (e), opportunity for oral presen16 tation shall be provided pursuant to that require17 ment; or 

18 ‘‘(B) when other than under subsection (e) of 

19 this section rules are required by statute or at the 

20 discretion of the agency to be made on the record 

21 after opportunity for an agency hearing, sections 

22 556 and 557 shall apply, and paragraph (4), the re23 quirements of subsection (e) to receive comment out24 side of the procedures of sections 556 and 557, and 


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1 the petition procedures of subsection (e)(6) shall not 

2 apply. 

3 The agency shall provide not fewer than 60 days for inter4 ested persons to submit written data, views, or argument 

5 (or 120 days in the case of a proposed major or high6 impact rule). 

7 ‘‘(4)(A) Within 30 days of publication of notice of 

8 proposed rule making, a member of the public may peti9 tion for a hearing in accordance with section 556 to deter10 mine whether any evidence or other information upon 

11 which the agency bases the proposed rule fails to comply 

12 with the Information Quality Act. 

13 ‘‘(B)(i) The agency may, upon review of the petition, 

14 determine without further process to exclude from the rule 

15 making the evidence or other information that is the sub16 ject of the petition and, if appropriate, withdraw the pro17 posed rule. The agency shall promptly publish any such 

18 determination. 

19 ‘‘(ii) If the agency does not resolve the petition under 

20 the procedures of clause (i), it shall grant any such peti21 tion that presents a prima facie case that evidence or other 

22 information upon which the agency bases the proposed 

23 rule fails to comply with the Information Quality Act, hold 

24 the requested hearing not later than 30 days after receipt 

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1 examination at the hearing, and decide the issues pre2 sented by the petition not later than 60 days after receipt 

3 of the petition. The agency may deny any petition that 

4 it determines does not present such a prima facie case. 

5 ‘‘(C) There shall be no judicial review of the agency’s 

6 disposition of issues considered and decided or determined 

7 under subparagraph (B)(ii) until judicial review of the 

8 agency’s final action. There shall be no judicial review of 

9 an agency’s determination to withdraw a proposed rule 

10 under subparagraph (B)(i) on the basis of the petition. 

11 ‘‘(D) Failure to petition for a hearing under this 

12 paragraph shall not preclude judicial review of any claim 

13 based on the Information Quality Act under chapter 7 of 

14 this title. 

15 ‘‘(5) After notice or advance notice of a proposed rule 

16 making, the agency making the rule, and any person act17 ing in an official capacity on behalf of the agency, may 

18 not communicate, and a person who receives Federal 

19 funds from the agency may not use those funds to commu20 nicate, through written, oral, electronic, or other means 

21 to the public about the proposed rule in a manner that— 

22 ‘‘(A) directly advocates, in support of or against 

23 the proposed rule, for the submission of information 

24 to form part of the record of review for the proposed 

25 rule; 


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1 ‘‘(B) appeals to the public, or solicits a third2 party, to undertake advocacy in support of or 

3 against the proposed rule; or 

4 ‘‘(C) is directly or indirectly for publicity or 

5 propaganda purposes within the United States not 

6 heretofore authorized by the Congress. 

7 Such prohibition shall not apply to communication that 

8 requests comments or provides information regarding the 

9 rule in an impartial manner. 

10 ‘‘(e) HEARINGS FOR HIGH-IMPACT RULES.—Fol11 lowing notice of a proposed rule making, receipt of com12 ments on the proposed rule, and any hearing held under 

13 subsection (d)(4), and before adoption of any high-impact 

14 rule, the agency shall hold a hearing in accordance with 

15 sections 556 and 557, unless such hearing is waived by 

16 all participants in the rule making other than the agency. 

17 The agency shall provide a reasonable opportunity for 

18 cross-examination at such hearing. The hearing shall be 

19 limited to the following issues of fact, except that partici20 pants at the hearing other than the agency may waive de21 termination of any such issue: 

22 ‘‘(1) Whether the agency’s asserted factual 

23 predicate for the rule is supported by the evidence. 

24 ‘‘(2) Whether there is an alternative to the pro25 posed rule that would achieve the relevant statutory 


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1 objectives at a lower cost (including all costs to be 

2 considered under subsection (b)(6)) than the pro3 posed rule. 

4 ‘‘(3) If there is more than one alternative to the 

5 proposed rule that would achieve the relevant statu6 tory objectives at a lower cost than the proposed 

7 rule, which alternative would achieve the relevant 

8 statutory objectives at the lowest cost. 

9 ‘‘(4) Whether, if the agency proposes to adopt 

10 a rule that is more costly than the least costly alter11 native that would achieve the relevant statutory ob12 jectives (including all costs to be considered under 

13 subsection (b)(6)), the additional benefits of the 

14 more costly rule exceed the additional costs of the 

15 more costly rule. 

16 ‘‘(5) Whether the evidence and other informa17 tion upon which the agency bases the proposed rule 

18 meets the requirements of the Information Quality 

19 Act. 

20 ‘‘(6) Upon petition by an interested person who 

21 has participated in the rule making, other issues rel22 evant to the rule making, unless the agency deter23 mines that consideration of the issues at the hearing 

24 would not advance consideration of the rule or 

25 would, in light of the nature of the need for agency 


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1 action, unreasonably delay completion of the rule 

2 making. An agency shall grant or deny a petition 

3 under this paragraph within 30 days of its receipt 

4 of the petition. 

5 No later than 45 days before any hearing held under this 

6 subsection or sections 556 and 557, the agency shall pub7 lish in the Federal Register a notice specifying the pro8 posed rule to be considered at such hearing, the issues 

9 to be considered at the hearing, and the time and place 

10 for such hearing, except that such notice may be issued 

11 not later than 15 days before a hearing held under sub12 section (d)(4)(B). 

13 ‘‘(f) FINAL RULES.—(1) The agency shall adopt a 

14 rule only following consultation with the Administrator of 

15 the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs to facili16 tate compliance with applicable rule making requirements. 

17 ‘‘(2) The agency shall adopt a rule only on the basis 

18 of the best reasonably obtainable scientific, technical, eco19 nomic, and other evidence and information concerning the 

20 need for, consequences of, and alternatives to the rule. 

21 ‘‘(3)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the 

22 agency shall adopt the least costly rule considered during 

23 the rule making (including all costs to be considered under 

24 subsection (b)(6)) that meets relevant statutory objectives. 


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1 ‘‘(B) The agency may adopt a rule that is more costly 

2 than the least costly alternative that would achieve the rel3 evant statutory objectives only if the additional benefits 

4 of the more costly rule justify its additional costs and only 

5 if the agency explains its reason for doing so based on 

6 interests of public health, safety or welfare that are clearly 

7 within the scope of the statutory provision authorizing the 

8 rule. 

9 ‘‘(4) When it adopts a final rule, the agency shall 

10 publish a notice of final rule making. The notice shall in11 clude— 

12 ‘‘(A) a concise, general statement of the rule’s 

13 basis and purpose; 

14 ‘‘(B) the agency’s reasoned final determination 

15 of need for a rule to address the problem the agency 

16 seeks to address with the rule, including a statement 

17 of whether a rule is required by statute and a sum18 mary of any final risk assessment or regulatory im19 pact analysis prepared by the agency; 

20 ‘‘(C) the agency’s reasoned final determination 

21 that the benefits of the rule meet the relevant statu22 tory objectives and justify the rule’s costs (including 

23 all costs to be considered under subsection (b)(6)); 

24 ‘‘(D) the agency’s reasoned final determination 

25 not to adopt any of the alternatives to the proposed 


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1 rule considered by the agency during the rule mak2 ing, including— 

3 ‘‘(i) the agency’s reasoned final determina4 tion that no alternative considered achieved the 

5 relevant statutory objectives with lower costs 

6 (including all costs to be considered under sub7 section (b)(6)) than the rule; or 

8 ‘‘(ii) the agency’s reasoned determination 

9 that its adoption of a more costly rule complies 

10 with subsection (f)(3)(B); 

11 ‘‘(E) the agency’s reasoned final determina12 tion— 

13 ‘‘(i) that existing rules have not created or 

14 contributed to the problem the agency seeks to 

15 address with the rule; or 

16 ‘‘(ii) that existing rules have created or 

17 contributed to the problem the agency seeks to 

18 address with the rule, and, if so— 

19 ‘‘(I) why amendment or rescission of 

20 such existing rules is not alone sufficient 

21 to respond to the problem; and 

22 ‘‘(II) whether and how the agency in23 tends to amend or rescind the existing rule 

24 separate from adoption of the rule; 


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1 ‘‘(F) the agency’s reasoned final determination 

2 that the evidence and other information upon which 

3 the agency bases the rule complies with the Informa4 tion Quality Act; 

5 ‘‘(G) the agency’s reasoned final determination 

6 that the rule meets the objectives that the agency 

7 identified in subsection (d)(1)(E)(iii) or that other 

8 objectives are more appropriate in light of the full 

9 administrative record and the rule meets those ob10 jectives; 

11 ‘‘(H) the agency’s reasoned final determination 

12 that it did not deviate from the metrics the agency 

13 included in subsection (d)(1)(E)(iii) or that other 

14 metrics are more appropriate in light of the full ad15 ministrative record and the agency did not deviate 

16 from those metrics; 

17 ‘‘(I)(i) for any major rule, high-impact rule, or 

18 negative-impact on jobs and wages rule, the agency’s 

19 plan for review of the rule no less than every ten 

20 years to determine whether, based upon evidence, 

21 there remains a need for the rule, whether the rule 

22 is in fact achieving statutory objectives, whether the 

23 rule’s benefits continue to justify its costs, and 

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1 duce costs while continuing to achieve statutory ob2 jectives; 

3 ‘‘(ii) review of a rule under a plan required by 

4 clause (i) of this subparagraph shall take into ac5 count the factors and criteria set forth in sub6 sections (b) through (f) of section 553 of this title; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(iii) in the case of a major rule, a report on 

9 the benefits and costs of the final rule on entities 

10 whose conduct is regulated by the rule in the Fed11 eral Register, to be revised every 5 years thereafter 

12 while the rule remains in effect, and including, at a 

13 minimum— 

14 ‘‘(I) an assessment of the impacts, includ15 ing any costs, of the major rule on regulated 

16 entities; 

17 ‘‘(II) a determination about how the actual 

18 benefits and costs of the major rule have varied 

19 from those anticipated at the time the major 

20 rule was issued; 

21 ‘‘(III) an assessment of the effectiveness 

22 and benefits of the major rule in producing the 

23 regulatory objectives of the major rule; and 

24 ‘‘(IV) a review by the Administrator of the 

25 Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of 


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1 the Office of Management and Budget when re2 quired under executive order; and 

3 ‘‘(J) for any negative-impact on jobs and wages 

4 rule, a statement that the head of the agency that 

5 made the rule approved the rule knowing about the 

6 findings and determination of the agency or the Ad7 ministrator of the Office of Information and Regu8 latory Affairs that qualified the rule as a negative 

9 impact on jobs and wages rule. 

10 All information considered by the agency in connection 

11 with its adoption of the rule, and, at the discretion of the 

12 President or the Administrator of the Office of Informa13 tion and Regulatory Affairs, information provided by that 

14 Office in consultations with the agency, shall be placed 

15 in the docket for the rule and made accessible to the public 

16 for the public’s use no later than when the rule is adopted. 

17 ‘‘(g) EXCEPTIONS FROM NOTICE AND HEARING RE18 QUIREMENTS.—(1) Except when notice or hearing is re19 quired by statute, the following do not apply to interpre20 tive rules, general statements of policy, or rules of agency 

21 organization, procedure, or practice: 

22 ‘‘(A) Subsections (c) through (e). 

23 ‘‘(B) Paragraphs (1) through (3) of subsection 

24 (f). 


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1 ‘‘(C) Subparagraphs (B) through (H) of sub2 section (f)(4). 

3 ‘‘(2)(A) When the agency for good cause, based upon 

4 evidence, finds (and incorporates the finding and a brief 

5 statement of reasons therefor in the rules issued) that 

6 compliance with subsection (c), (d), or (e) or requirements 

7 to render final determinations under subsection (f) of this 

8 section before the issuance of an interim rule is impracti9 cable or contrary to the public interest, including interests 

10 of national security, such subsections or requirements to 

11 render final determinations shall not apply to the agency’s 

12 adoption of an interim rule. 

13 ‘‘(B) If, following compliance with subparagraph (A) 

14 of this paragraph, the agency adopts an interim rule, it 

15 shall commence proceedings that comply fully with sub16 sections (d) through (f) of this section immediately upon 

17 publication of the interim rule, shall treat the publication 

18 of the interim rule as publication of a notice of proposed 

19 rule making and shall not be required to issue supple20 mental notice other than to complete full compliance with 

21 subsection (d). No less than 270 days from publication 

22 of the interim rule (or 18 months in the case of a major 

23 rule or high-impact rule), the agency shall complete rule 

24 making under subsections (d) through (f) of this sub25 section and take final action to adopt a final rule or reVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Jan 12, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5.RFS H5

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1 scind the interim rule. If the agency fails to take timely 

2 final action, the interim rule will cease to have the effect 

3 of law. 

4 ‘‘(C) Other than in cases involving interests of na5 tional security, upon the agency’s publication of an interim 

6 rule without compliance with subsection (c), (d), or (e) or 

7 requirements to render final determinations under sub8 section (f) of this section, an interested party may seek 

9 immediate judicial review under chapter 7 of this title of 

10 the agency’s determination to adopt such interim rule. The 

11 record on such review shall include all documents and in12 formation considered by the agency and any additional in13 formation presented by a party that the court determines 

14 necessary to consider to assure justice. 

15 ‘‘(3) When the agency for good cause finds (and in16 corporates the finding and a brief statement of reasons 

17 therefor in the rules issued) that notice and public proce18 dure thereon are unnecessary, including because agency 

19 rule making is undertaken only to correct a de minimis 

20 technical or clerical error in a previously issued rule or 

21 for other noncontroversial purposes, the agency may pub22 lish a rule without compliance with subsection (c), (d), (e), 

23 or (f)(1)–(3) and (f)(4)(B)–(F). If the agency receives sig24 nificant adverse comment within 60 days after publication 

25 of the rule, it shall treat the notice of the rule as a notice 


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1 of proposed rule making and complete rule making in com2 pliance with subsections (d) and (f). 

3 ‘‘(h) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR HEARINGS.— 

4 When a hearing is required under subsection (e) or is oth5 erwise required by statute or at the agency’s discretion 

6 before adoption of a rule, the agency shall comply with 

7 the requirements of sections 556 and 557 in addition to 

8 the requirements of subsection (f) in adopting the rule and 

9 in providing notice of the rule’s adoption. 

10 ‘‘(i) DATE OF PUBLICATION OF RULE.—The required 

11 publication or service of a substantive final or interim rule 

12 shall be made not less than 30 days before the effective 

13 date of the rule, except— 

14 ‘‘(1) a substantive rule which grants or recog15 nizes an exemption or relieves a restriction; 

16 ‘‘(2) interpretive rules and statements of policy; 

17 or 

18 ‘‘(3) as otherwise provided by the agency for 

19 good cause found and published with the rule. 

20 ‘‘(j) RIGHT TO PETITION.—Each agency shall give 

21 an interested person the right to petition for the issuance, 

22 amendment, or repeal of a rule. 

23 ‘‘(k) RULE MAKING GUIDELINES.—(1)(A) The Ad24 ministrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory 

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1 cluding quantitative and qualitative assessment, of the 

2 costs and benefits of proposed and final rules and other 

3 economic issues or issues related to risk that are relevant 

4 to rule making under this title. The rigor of cost-benefit 

5 analysis required by such guidelines shall be commensu6 rate, in the Administrator’s determination, with the eco7 nomic impact of the rule. 

8 ‘‘(B) To ensure that agencies use the best available 

9 techniques to quantify and evaluate anticipated present 

10 and future benefits, costs, other economic issues, and risks 

11 as accurately as possible, the Administrator of the Office 

12 of Information and Regulatory Affairs shall regularly up13 date guidelines established under paragraph (1)(A) of this 

14 subsection. 

15 ‘‘(2) The Administrator of the Office of Information 

16 and Regulatory Affairs shall also issue guidelines to pro17 mote coordination, simplification and harmonization of 

18 agency rules during the rule making process and other19 wise. Such guidelines shall assure that each agency avoids 

20 regulations that are inconsistent or incompatible with, or 

21 duplicative of, its other regulations and those of other 

22 Federal agencies and drafts its regulations to be simple 

23 and easy to understand, with the goal of minimizing the 

24 potential for uncertainty and litigation arising from such 

25 uncertainty. 


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1 ‘‘(3) To ensure consistency in Federal rule making, 

2 the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regu3 latory Affairs shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) issue guidelines and otherwise take action 

5 to ensure that rule makings conducted in whole or 

6 in part under procedures specified in provisions of 

7 law other than those of subchapter II of this title 

8 conform to the fullest extent allowed by law with the 

9 procedures set forth in section 553 of this title; and 

10 ‘‘(B) issue guidelines for the conduct of hear11 ings under subsections 553(d)(4) and 553(e) of this 

12 section, including to assure a reasonable opportunity 

13 for cross-examination. Each agency shall adopt regu14 lations for the conduct of hearings consistent with 

15 the guidelines issued under this subparagraph. 

16 ‘‘(4) The Administrator of the Office of Information 

17 and Regulatory Affairs shall issue guidelines pursuant to 

18 the Information Quality Act to apply in rule making pro19 ceedings under sections 553, 556, and 557 of this title. 

20 In all cases, such guidelines, and the Administrator’s spe21 cific determinations regarding agency compliance with 

22 such guidelines, shall be entitled to judicial deference. 

23 ‘‘(l) INCLUSION IN THE RECORD OF CERTAIN DOCU24 MENTS AND INFORMATION.—The agency shall include in 

25 the record for a rule making, and shall make available by 


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1 electronic means and otherwise, all documents and infor2 mation prepared or considered by the agency during the 

3 proceeding, including, at the discretion of the President 

4 or the Administrator of the Office of Information and Reg5 ulatory Affairs, documents and information communicated 

6 by that Office during consultation with the Agency. 

7 ‘‘(m) MONETARY POLICY EXEMPTION.—Nothing in 

8 subsection (b)(6), subparagraphs (F) and (G) of sub9 section (d)(1), subsection (e), subsection (f)(3), and sub10 paragraphs (C) and (D) of subsection (f)(5) shall apply 

11 to rule makings that concern monetary policy proposed or 

12 implemented by the Board of Governors of the Federal 

13 Reserve System or the Federal Open Market Committee. 

14 ‘‘(n) REGULATION-SPECIFIC FRAMEWORKS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The agency shall 

16 provide a report to Congress not later than 90 days 

17 after the agency makes any determination under 

18 subsection (f)(4)(I)(iii)(II) that the cost to regulated 

19 entities has exceeded the anticipated cost at the time 

20 the final rule was issued. The agency, at a min21 imum, shall assess in the report— 

22 ‘‘(A) whether the major rule is accom23 plishing its regulatory objective; and 

24 ‘‘(B) whether the major rule has been ren25 dered unnecessary, taking into consideration— 


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1 ‘‘(i) changes in the subject area af2 fected by the major rule; 

3 ‘‘(ii) whether the major rule overlaps, 

4 duplicates, or conflicts with other rules or, 

5 to the extent feasible, State and local gov6 ernment regulations; and 

7 ‘‘(iii) other alternatives to the major 

8 rule or modification of the major rule that 

9 might achieve better results while imposing 

10 a smaller burden on society or at a lower 

11 cost, taking into consideration any cost al12 ready incurred. 

13 ‘‘(2) REOPENING OF PUBLIC DOCKET.—Upon 

14 delivery of the report required in paragraph (1) the 

15 agency shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) reopen the public docket for 60 days 

17 to receive additional comments; and 

18 ‘‘(B) consider modifications or alternatives 

19 that reduce costs and increase benefits to regu20 lated entities or individuals. 

21 ‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

22 this subsection may be construed to affect any other 

23 provision of law that requires an agency to conduct 

24 retrospective reviews of rules issued by the agency.’’. 


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1 SEC. 104. AGENCY GUIDANCE; PROCEDURES TO ISSUE 

2 MAJOR GUIDANCE; PRESIDENTIAL AUTHOR3 ITY TO ISSUE GUIDELINES FOR ISSUANCE OF 

4 GUIDANCE. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 5 of title 5, United 

6 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 553 the 

7 following new section: 

8 ‘‘§ 553a. Agency guidance; procedures to issue major 

9 guidance; authority to issue guidelines 

10 for issuance of guidance 

11 ‘‘(a) Before issuing any major guidance, or guidance 

12 that involves a novel legal or policy issue arising out of 

13 statutory mandates, an agency shall— 

14 ‘‘(1) make and document a reasoned determina15 tion that— 

16 ‘‘(A) assures that such guidance is under17 standable and complies with relevant statutory 

18 objectives and regulatory provisions (including 

19 any statutory deadlines for agency action); 

20 ‘‘(B) summarizes the evidence and data on 

21 which the agency will base the guidance; 

22 ‘‘(C) identifies the costs and benefits (in23 cluding all costs to be considered during a rule 

24 making under section 553(b) of this title) of 

25 conduct conforming to such guidance and 


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1 assures that such benefits justify such costs; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(D) describes alternatives to such guid4 ance and their costs and benefits (including all 

5 costs to be considered during a rule making 

6 under section 553(b) of this title) and explains 

7 why the agency rejected those alternatives; and 

8 ‘‘(2) confer with the Administrator of the Office 

9 of Information and Regulatory Affairs on the 

10 issuance of such guidance to assure that the guid11 ance is reasonable, understandable, consistent with 

12 relevant statutory and regulatory provisions and re13 quirements or practices of other agencies, does not 

14 produce costs that are unjustified by the guidance’s 

15 benefits, and is otherwise appropriate. 

16 Upon issuing major guidance, or guidance that involves 

17 a novel legal or policy issue arising out of statutory man18 dates, the agency shall publish the documentation required 

19 by subparagraph (1) by electronic means and otherwise. 

20 ‘‘(b) Agency guidance— 

21 ‘‘(1) is not legally binding and may not be re22 lied upon by an agency as legal grounds for agency 

23 action; 

24 ‘‘(2) shall state in a plain, prominent and per25 manent manner that it is not legally binding; and 


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1 ‘‘(3) shall, at the time it is issued or upon re2 quest, be made available by the issuing agency to in3 terested persons and the public by electronic means 

4 and otherwise. 

5 Agencies shall avoid the issuance of guidance that is in6 consistent or incompatible with, or duplicative of, the 

7 agency’s governing statutes or regulations, with the goal 

8 of minimizing the potential for uncertainty and litigation 

9 arising from such uncertainty. 

10 ‘‘(c) The Administrator of the Office of Information 

11 and Regulatory Affairs shall have authority to issue guide12 lines for use by the agencies in the issuance of major guid13 ance and other guidance. Such guidelines shall assure that 

14 each agency avoids issuing guidance documents that are 

15 inconsistent or incompatible with, or duplicative of, the 

16 law, its other regulations, or the regulations of other Fed17 eral agencies, drafts its guidance documents to be simple 

18 and easy to understand, and issues guidance in a manner 

19 sufficient to provide at least 90 days for affected entities 

20 to take steps to comply with such guidance, with the goal 

21 of minimizing the potential for uncertainty and litigation 

22 arising from such uncertainty.’’. 

23 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

24 for chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, is amended 


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1 by inserting after the item relating to section 553 the fol2 lowing new item: 

‘‘553a. Agency guidance; procedures to issue major guidance; authority to issue 

guidelines for issuance of guidance.’’. 

3 SEC. 105. HEARINGS; PRESIDING EMPLOYEES; POWERS AND 

4 DUTIES; BURDEN OF PROOF; EVIDENCE; 

5 RECORD AS BASIS OF DECISION. 

6 Section 556 of title 5, United States Code, is amend7 ed by striking subsection (e) and inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘(e)(1) The transcript of testimony and exhibits, to9 gether with all papers and requests filed in the proceeding, 

10 constitutes the exclusive record for decision in accordance 

11 with section 557 and shall be made available to the parties 

12 and the public by electronic means and, upon payment of 

13 lawfully prescribed costs, otherwise. When an agency deci14 sion rests on official notice of a material fact not appear15 ing in the evidence in the record, a party is entitled, on 

16 timely request, to an opportunity to show the contrary. 

17 ‘‘(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of this sub18 section, in a proceeding held under this section pursuant 

19 to section 553(d)(4) or 553(e), the record for decision 

20 shall also include any information that is part of the 

21 record of proceedings under section 553. 

22 ‘‘(f) When an agency conducts rule making under this 

23 section and section 557 directly after concluding pro24 ceedings upon an advance notice of proposed rule making 


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1 under section 553(c), the matters to be considered and 

2 determinations to be made shall include, among other rel3 evant matters and determinations, the matters and deter4 minations described in subsections (b) and (f) of section 

5 553. 

6 ‘‘(g) Upon receipt of a petition for a hearing under 

7 this section, the agency shall grant the petition in the case 

8 of any major rule, unless the agency reasonably deter9 mines that a hearing would not advance consideration of 

10 the rule or would, in light of the need for agency action, 

11 unreasonably delay completion of the rule making. The 

12 agency shall publish its decision to grant or deny the peti13 tion when it renders the decision, including an explanation 

14 of the grounds for decision. The information contained in 

15 the petition shall in all cases be included in the adminis16 trative record. This subsection shall not apply to rule mak17 ings that concern monetary policy proposed or imple18 mented by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 

19 System or the Federal Open Market Committee.’’. 

20 SEC. 106. ACTIONS REVIEWABLE. 

21 Section 704 of title 5, United States Code, is amend22 ed— 

23 (1) by striking ‘‘Agency action made’’ and in24 serting ‘‘(a) Agency action made’’; and 


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1 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘Denial 

2 by an agency of a correction request or, where ad3 ministrative appeal is provided for, denial of an ap4 peal, under an administrative mechanism described 

5 in subsection (b)(2)(B) of the Information Quality 

6 Act, or the failure of an agency within 90 days to 

7 grant or deny such request or appeal, shall be final 

8 action for purposes of this section. 

9 ‘‘(b) Other than in cases involving interests of na10 tional security, notwithstanding subsection (a) of this sec11 tion, upon the agency’s publication of an interim rule with12 out compliance with section 553(c), (d), or (e) or require13 ments to render final determinations under subsection (f) 

14 of section 553, an interested party may seek immediate 

15 judicial review under this chapter of the agency’s deter16 mination to adopt such rule on an interim basis. Review 

17 shall be limited to whether the agency abused its discre18 tion to adopt the interim rule without compliance with sec19 tion 553(c), (d), or (e) or without rendering final deter20 minations under subsection (f) of section 553.’’. 

21 SEC. 107. SCOPE OF REVIEW. 

22 Section 706 of title 5, United States Code is amend23 ed— 

24 (1) by striking ‘‘To the extent necessary’’ and 

25 inserting ‘‘(a) To the extent necessary’’; 


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1 (2) in paragraph (2)(A) of subsection (b) (as 

2 designated by section 202 of this Act), by inserting 

3 after ‘‘in accordance with law’’ the following: ‘‘(in4 cluding the Information Quality Act)’’; and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(c) The court shall not defer to the agency’s— 

7 ‘‘(1) determination of the costs and benefits or 

8 other economic or risk assessment of the action, if 

9 the agency failed to conform to guidelines on such 

10 determinations and assessments established by the 

11 Administrator of the Office of Information and Reg12 ulatory Affairs under section 553(k); 

13 ‘‘(2) determinations made in the adoption of an 

14 interim rule; or 

15 ‘‘(3) guidance. 

16 ‘‘(d) The court shall review agency denials of peti17 tions under section 553(e)(6) or any other petition for a 

18 hearing under sections 556 and 557 for abuse of agency 

19 discretion.’’. 

20 SEC. 108. ADDED DEFINITION. 

21 Section 701(b) of title 5, United States Code, is 

22 amended— 

23 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

24 end; 


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1 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at 

2 the end, and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(3) ‘substantial evidence’ means such relevant 

5 evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as ade6 quate to support a conclusion in light of the record 

7 considered as a whole, taking into account whatever 

8 in the record fairly detracts from the weight of the 

9 evidence relied upon by the agency to support its de10 cision.’’. 

11 SEC. 109. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

12 The amendments made by this title to— 

13 (1) sections 553, 556, and 704 of title 5, 

14 United States Code; 

15 (2) subsection (b) of section 701 of such title; 

16 (3) paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 706(c) of 

17 such title; and 

18 (4) subsection (d) of section 706 of such title, 

19 shall not apply to any rule makings pending or completed 

20 on the date of enactment of this title. 

21 SEC. 110. PROMPT ISSUANCE OF OIRA GUIDELINES. 

22 The Administrator of the Office of Information and 

23 Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and 

24 Budget shall establish any guideline required to be estab25 lished by this title or the amendments made by this title 


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1 by not later than 270 days after the date of enactment 

2 of this title. 

3 TITLE II—SEPARATION OF 

4 POWERS RESTORATION ACT 

5 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE. 

6 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Separation of Powers 

7 Restoration Act’’. 

8 SEC. 202. JUDICIAL REVIEW OF STATUTORY AND REGU9 LATORY INTERPRETATIONS. 

10 Section 706 of title 5, United States Code, as amend11 ed by this Act, is further amended— 

12 (1) in subsection (a) (as designated by section 

13 107 of this Act)— 

14 (A) by striking ‘‘decide all relevant ques15 tions of law, interpret constitutional and statu16 tory provisions, and’’; and 

17 (B) by inserting after ‘‘of the terms of an 

18 agency action’’ the following ‘‘and decide de 

19 novo all relevant questions of law, including the 

20 interpretation of constitutional and statutory 

21 provisions, and rules made by agencies. If the 

22 reviewing court determines that a statutory or 

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1 egation to the agency of legislative rule making 

2 authority and shall not rely on such gap or am3 biguity as a justification either for interpreting 

4 agency authority expansively or for deferring to 

5 the agency’s interpretation on the question of 

6 law. Notwithstanding any other provision of 

7 law, this subsection shall apply in any action 

8 for judicial review of agency action authorized 

9 under any provision of law. No law may exempt 

10 any such civil action from the application of 

11 this section except by specific reference to this 

12 section’’; and 

13 (2) by striking ‘‘The reviewing court shall—’’ 

14 and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(b) The reviewing court shall—’’. 

16 TITLE III—SMALL BUSINESS 

17 REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY 

18 IMPROVEMENTS ACT 

19 SEC. 301. SHORT TITLE. 

20 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Small Business Regu21 latory Flexibility Improvements Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 302. CLARIFICATION AND EXPANSION OF RULES COV2 ERED BY THE REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY 

3 ACT. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (2) of section 601 of 

5 title 5, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(2) RULE.—The term ‘rule’ has the meaning 

7 given such term in section 551(4) of this title, ex8 cept that such term does not include— 

9 ‘‘(A) a rule pertaining to the protection of 

10 the rights of and benefits for veterans or part 

11 232 of title 32 of the Code of Federal Regula12 tions (as in effect on July 1, 2014) or any suc13 cessor provisions thereto; or 

14 ‘‘(B) a rule of particular (and not general) 

15 applicability relating to rates, wages, corporate 

16 or financial structures or reorganizations there17 of, prices, facilities, appliances, services, or al18 lowances therefor or to valuations, costs or ac19 counting, or practices relating to such rates, 

20 wages, structures, prices, appliances, services, 

21 or allowances.’’. 

22 (b) INCLUSION OF RULES WITH INDIRECT EF23 FECTS.—Section 601 of title 5, United States Code, is 

24 amended by adding at the end the following new para25 graph: 


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1 ‘‘(9) ECONOMIC IMPACT.—The term ‘economic 

2 impact’ means, with respect to a proposed or final 

3 rule— 

4 ‘‘(A) any direct economic effect on small 

5 entities of such rule; and 

6 ‘‘(B) any indirect economic effect (includ7 ing compliance costs and effects on revenue) on 

8 small entities which is reasonably foreseeable 

9 and results from such rule (without regard to 

10 whether small entities will be directly regulated 

11 by the rule).’’. 

12 (c) INCLUSION OF RULES WITH BENEFICIAL EF13 FECTS.— 

14 (1) INITIAL REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY ANAL15 YSIS.—Subsection (c) of section 603 of title 5, 

16 United States Code, is amended by striking the first 

17 sentence and inserting ‘‘Each initial regulatory flexi18 bility analysis shall also contain a detailed descrip19 tion of alternatives to the proposed rule which mini20 mize any adverse significant economic impact or 

21 maximize any beneficial significant economic impact 

22 on small entities.’’. 

23 (2) FINAL REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY ANAL24 YSIS.—The first paragraph (6) of section 604(a) of 

25 title 5, United States Code, is amended by striking 


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1 ‘‘minimize the significant economic impact’’ and in2 serting ‘‘minimize the adverse significant economic 

3 impact or maximize the beneficial significant eco4 nomic impact’’. 

5 (d) INCLUSION OF RULES AFFECTING TRIBAL ORGA6 NIZATIONS.—Paragraph (5) of section 601 of title 5, 

7 United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘and tribal 

8 organizations (as defined in section 4(l) of the Indian Self9 Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 

10 450b(l))),’’ after ‘‘special districts,’’. 

11 (e) INCLUSION OF LAND MANAGEMENT PLANS AND

12 FORMAL RULEMAKING.— 

13 (1) INITIAL REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY ANAL14 YSIS.—Subsection (a) of section 603 of title 5, 

15 United States Code, is amended in the first sen16 tence— 

17 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ after ‘‘proposed 

18 rule,’’; and 

19 (B) by inserting ‘‘or publishes a revision or 

20 amendment to a land management plan,’’ after 

21 ‘‘United States,’’. 

22 (2) FINAL REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY ANAL23 YSIS.—Subsection (a) of section 604 of title 5, 

24 United States Code, is amended in the first sen25 tence— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ after ‘‘proposed rule2 making,’’; and 

3 (B) by inserting ‘‘or adopts a revision or 

4 amendment to a land management plan,’’ after 

5 ‘‘section 603(a),’’. 

6 (3) LAND MANAGEMENT PLAN DEFINED.—Sec7 tion 601 of title 5, United States Code, is amended 

8 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(10) LAND MANAGEMENT PLAN.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘land man11 agement plan’ means— 

12 ‘‘(i) any plan developed by the Sec13 retary of Agriculture under section 6 of 

14 the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Re15 sources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 

16 1604); and 

17 ‘‘(ii) any plan developed by the Sec18 retary of the Interior under section 202 of 

19 the Federal Land Policy and Management 

20 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712). 

21 ‘‘(B) REVISION.—The term ‘revision’ 

22 means any change to a land management plan 

23 which— 

24 ‘‘(i) in the case of a plan described in 

25 subparagraph (A)(i), is made under section 


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1 6(f)(5) of the Forest and Rangeland Re2 newable Resources Planning Act of 1974 

3 (16 U.S.C. 1604(f)(5)); or 

4 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a plan described in 

5 subparagraph (A)(ii), is made under sec6 tion 1610.5–6 of title 43, Code of Federal 

7 Regulations (or any successor regulation). 

8 ‘‘(C) AMENDMENT.—The term ‘amend9 ment’ means any change to a land management 

10 plan which— 

11 ‘‘(i) in the case of a plan described in 

12 subparagraph (A)(i), is made under section 

13 6(f)(4) of the Forest and Rangeland Re14 newable Resources Planning Act of 1974 

15 (16 U.S.C. 1604(f)(4)) and with respect to 

16 which the Secretary of Agriculture pre17 pares a statement described in section 

18 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 

19 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

20 4332(2)(C)); or 

21 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a plan described in 

22 subparagraph (A)(ii), is made under sec23 tion 1610.5–5 of title 43, Code of Federal 

24 Regulations (or any successor regulation) 

25 and with respect to which the Secretary of 


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1 the Interior prepares a statement described 

2 in section 102(2)(C) of the National Envi3 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

4 4332(2)(C)).’’. 

5 (f) INCLUSION OF CERTAIN INTERPRETIVE RULES

6 INVOLVING THE INTERNAL REVENUE LAWS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 

8 603 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 

9 striking the period at the end and inserting ‘‘or a 

10 recordkeeping requirement, and without regard to 

11 whether such requirement is imposed by statute or 

12 regulation.’’. 

13 (2) COLLECTION OF INFORMATION.—Paragraph 

14 (7) of section 601 of title 5, United States Code, is 

15 amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(7) COLLECTION OF INFORMATION.—The term 

17 ‘collection of information’ has the meaning given 

18 such term in section 3502(3) of title 44.’’. 

19 (3) RECORDKEEPING REQUIREMENT.—Para20 graph (8) of section 601 of title 5, United States 

21 Code, is amended to read as follows: 

22 ‘‘(8) RECORDKEEPING REQUIREMENT.—The 

23 term ‘recordkeeping requirement’ has the meaning 

24 given such term in section 3502(13) of title 44.’’. 


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1 (g) DEFINITION OF SMALL ORGANIZATION.—Para2 graph (4) of section 601 of title 5, United States Code, 

3 is amended to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘(4) SMALL ORGANIZATION.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘small orga6 nization’ means any not-for-profit enterprise 

7 which, as of the issuance of the notice of pro8 posed rulemaking— 

9 ‘‘(i) in the case of an enterprise which 

10 is described by a classification code of the 

11 North American Industrial Classification 

12 System, does not exceed the size standard 

13 established by the Administrator of the 

14 Small Business Administration pursuant to 

15 section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 

16 U.S.C. 632) for small business concerns 

17 described by such classification code; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) in the case of any other enter19 prise, has a net worth that does not exceed 

20 $7 million and has not more than 500 em21 ployees. 

22 ‘‘(B) LOCAL LABOR ORGANIZATIONS.—In 

23 the case of any local labor organization, sub24 paragraph (A) shall be applied without regard 


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1 to any national or international organization of 

2 which such local labor organization is a part. 

3 ‘‘(C) AGENCY DEFINITIONS.—Subpara4 graphs (A) and (B) shall not apply to the ex5 tent that an agency, after consultation with the 

6 Office of Advocacy of the Small Business Ad7 ministration and after opportunity for public 

8 comment, establishes one or more definitions 

9 for such term which are appropriate to the ac10 tivities of the agency and publishes such defini11 tions in the Federal Register.’’. 

12 SEC. 303. EXPANSION OF REPORT OF REGULATORY AGEN13 DA. 

14 Section 602 of title 5, United States Code, is amend15 ed— 

16 (1) in subsection (a)— 

17 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘, and’’ 

18 at the end and inserting ‘‘;’’; 

19 (B) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 

20 paragraph (4); and 

21 (C) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

22 following: 

23 ‘‘(3) a brief description of the sector of the 

24 North American Industrial Classification System 

25 that is primarily affected by any rule which the 


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1 agency expects to propose or promulgate which is 

2 likely to have a significant economic impact on a 

3 substantial number of small entities; and’’; and 

4 (2) in subsection (c), to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(c) Each agency shall prominently display a plain 

6 language summary of the information contained in the 

7 regulatory flexibility agenda published under subsection 

8 (a) on its website within 3 days of its publication in the 

9 Federal Register. The Office of Advocacy of the Small 

10 Business Administration shall compile and prominently 

11 display a plain language summary of the regulatory agen12 das referenced in subsection (a) for each agency on its 

13 website within 3 days of their publication in the Federal 

14 Register.’’. 

15 SEC. 304. REQUIREMENTS PROVIDING FOR MORE DE16 TAILED ANALYSES. 

17 (a) INITIAL REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY ANALYSIS.— 

18 Subsection (b) of section 603 of title 5, United States 

19 Code, is amended to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘(b) Each initial regulatory flexibility analysis re21 quired under this section shall contain a detailed state22 ment— 

23 ‘‘(1) describing the reasons why action by the 

24 agency is being considered; 


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1 ‘‘(2) describing the objectives of, and legal basis 

2 for, the proposed rule; 

3 ‘‘(3) estimating the number and type of small 

4 entities to which the proposed rule will apply; 

5 ‘‘(4) describing the projected reporting, record6 keeping, and other compliance requirements of the 

7 proposed rule, including an estimate of the classes of 

8 small entities which will be subject to the require9 ment and the type of professional skills necessary 

10 for preparation of the report and record; 

11 ‘‘(5) describing all relevant Federal rules which 

12 may duplicate, overlap, or conflict with the proposed 

13 rule, or the reasons why such a description could not 

14 be provided; 

15 ‘‘(6) estimating the additional cumulative eco16 nomic impact of the proposed rule on small entities 

17 beyond that already imposed on the class of small 

18 entities by the agency or why such an estimate is 

19 not available; 

20 ‘‘(7) describing any disproportionate economic 

21 impact on small entities or a specific class of small 

22 entities; and 

23 ‘‘(8) describing any impairment of the ability of 

24 small entities to have access to credit.’’. 

25 (b) FINAL REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY ANALYSIS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 604(a) of title 5, 

2 United States Code, is amended— 

3 (A) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘an ex4 planation’’ and inserting ‘‘a detailed expla5 nation’’; 

6 (B) in each of paragraphs (4), (5), and the 

7 first paragraph (6), by inserting ‘‘detailed’’ be8 fore ‘‘description’’; 

9 (C) in the first paragraph (6), by striking 

10 ‘‘; and’’ at the end; 

11 (D) in the second paragraph (6), by strik12 ing the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

13 (E) by redesignating the second paragraph 

14 (6) as paragraph (7); and 

15 (F) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(8) a detailed description of any dispropor17 tionate economic impact on small entities or a spe18 cific class of small entities.’’. 

19 (2) INCLUSION OF RESPONSE TO COMMENTS ON

20 CERTIFICATION OF PROPOSED RULE.—Paragraph 

21 (2) of section 604(a) of title 5, United States Code, 

22 is amended by inserting ‘‘(or certification of the pro23 posed rule under section 605(b))’’ after ‘‘initial reg24 ulatory flexibility analysis’’. 


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1 (3) PUBLICATION OF ANALYSIS ON WEBSITE.— 

2 Subsection (b) of section 604 of title 5, United 

3 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘(b) The agency shall make copies of the final regu5 latory flexibility analysis available to the public, including 

6 placement of the entire analysis on the agency’s website, 

7 and shall publish in the Federal Register the final regu8 latory flexibility analysis, or a summary thereof which in9 cludes the telephone number, mailing address, and link to 

10 the website where the complete analysis may be ob11 tained.’’. 

12 (c) CROSS-REFERENCES TO OTHER ANALYSES.— 

13 Subsection (a) of section 605 of title 5, United States 

14 Code, is amended to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘(a) A Federal agency shall be treated as satisfying 

16 any requirement regarding the content of an agenda or 

17 regulatory flexibility analysis under section 602, 603, or 

18 604, if such agency provides in such agenda or analysis 

19 a cross-reference to the specific portion of another agenda 

20 or analysis which is required by any other law and which 

21 satisfies such requirement.’’. 

22 (d) CERTIFICATIONS.—Subsection (b) of section 605 

23 of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

24 (1) by inserting ‘‘detailed’’ before ‘‘statement’’ 

25 the first place it appears; 


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1 (2) by inserting ‘‘and legal’’ after ‘‘factual’’; 

2 and 

3 (3) by inserting ‘‘The detailed statement shall 

4 include an economic assessment or a summary there5 of that is sufficiently detailed to support the agen6 cy’s certification.’’ before ‘‘The agency shall provide 

7 such certification’’. 

8 (e) QUANTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—Section 607 

9 of title 5, United States Code, is amended to read as fol10 lows: 

11 ‘‘§ 607. Quantification requirements 

12 ‘‘In complying with sections 603 and 604, an agency 

13 shall provide— 

14 ‘‘(1) a quantifiable or numerical description of 

15 the effects of the proposed or final rule and alter16 natives to the proposed or final rule; or 

17 ‘‘(2) a more general descriptive statement and 

18 a detailed statement explaining why quantification is 

19 not practicable or reliable.’’. 

20 SEC. 305. REPEAL OF WAIVER AND DELAY AUTHORITY; AD21 DITIONAL POWERS OF THE CHIEF COUNSEL 

22 FOR ADVOCACY. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 608 of title 5, United 

24 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘§ 608. Additional powers of Chief Counsel for Advo2 cacy 

3 ‘‘(a)(1) Not later than 270 days after the date of the 

4 enactment of this section, the Chief Counsel for Advocacy 

5 of the Small Business Administration shall, after oppor6 tunity for notice and comment under section 553, issue 

7 rules governing agency compliance with this chapter. The 

8 Chief Counsel may modify or amend such rules after no9 tice and comment under section 553. This chapter (other 

10 than this subsection) shall not apply with respect to the 

11 issuance, modification, and amendment of rules under this 

12 paragraph. 

13 ‘‘(2) An agency shall not issue rules which supple14 ment the rules issued under subsection (a) unless such 

15 agency has first consulted with the Chief Counsel for Ad16 vocacy to ensure that such supplemental rules comply with 

17 this chapter and the rules issued under paragraph (1). 

18 ‘‘(b) Notwithstanding any other law, the Chief Coun19 sel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration 

20 may intervene in any agency adjudication (unless such 

21 agency is authorized to impose a fine or penalty under 

22 such adjudication), and may inform the agency of the im23 pact that any decision on the record may have on small 

24 entities. The Chief Counsel shall not initiate an appeal 

25 with respect to any adjudication in which the Chief Coun26 sel intervenes under this subsection. 


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1 ‘‘(c) The Chief Counsel for Advocacy may file com2 ments in response to any agency notice requesting com3 ment, regardless of whether the agency is required to file 

4 a general notice of proposed rulemaking under section 

5 553.’’. 

6 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

7 (1) Section 611(a)(1) of such title is amended 

8 by striking ‘‘608(b),’’. 

9 (2) Section 611(a)(2) of such title is amended 

10 by striking ‘‘608(b),’’. 

11 (3) Section 611(a)(3) of such title is amend12 ed— 

13 (A) by striking subparagraph (B); and 

14 (B) by striking ‘‘(3)(A) A small entity’’ 

15 and inserting the following: 

16 ‘‘(3) A small entity’’. 

17 SEC. 306. PROCEDURES FOR GATHERING COMMENTS. 

18 Section 609 of title 5, United States Code, is amend19 ed by striking subsection (b) and all that follows through 

20 the end of the section and inserting the following: 

21 ‘‘(b)(1) Prior to publication of any proposed rule de22 scribed in subsection (e), an agency making such rule shall 

23 notify the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Busi24 ness Administration and provide the Chief Counsel with— 


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1 ‘‘(A) all materials prepared or utilized by the 

2 agency in making the proposed rule, including the 

3 draft of the proposed rule; and 

4 ‘‘(B) information on the potential adverse and 

5 beneficial economic impacts of the proposed rule on 

6 small entities and the type of small entities that 

7 might be affected. 

8 ‘‘(2) An agency shall not be required under para9 graph (1) to provide the exact language of any draft if 

10 the rule— 

11 ‘‘(A) relates to the internal revenue laws of the 

12 United States; or 

13 ‘‘(B) is proposed by an independent regulatory 

14 agency (as defined in section 3502(5) of title 44). 

15 ‘‘(c) Not later than 15 days after the receipt of such 

16 materials and information under subsection (b), the Chief 

17 Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administra18 tion shall— 

19 ‘‘(1) identify small entities or representatives of 

20 small entities or a combination of both for the pur21 pose of obtaining advice, input, and recommenda22 tions from those persons about the potential eco23 nomic impacts of the proposed rule and the compli24 ance of the agency with section 603; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) convene a review panel consisting of an 

2 employee from the Office of Advocacy of the Small 

3 Business Administration, an employee from the 

4 agency making the rule, and in the case of an agen5 cy other than an independent regulatory agency (as 

6 defined in section 3502(5) of title 44), an employee 

7 from the Office of Information and Regulatory Af8 fairs of the Office of Management and Budget to re9 view the materials and information provided to the 

10 Chief Counsel under subsection (b). 

11 ‘‘(d)(1) Not later than 60 days after the review panel 

12 described in subsection (c)(2) is convened, the Chief Coun13 sel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration 

14 shall, after consultation with the members of such panel, 

15 submit a report to the agency and, in the case of an agen16 cy other than an independent regulatory agency (as de17 fined in section 3502(5) of title 44), the Office of Informa18 tion and Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management 

19 and Budget. 

20 ‘‘(2) Such report shall include an assessment of the 

21 economic impact of the proposed rule on small entities, 

22 including an assessment of the proposed rule’s impact on 

23 the cost that small entities pay for energy, an assessment 

24 of the proposed rule’s impact on startup costs for small 

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1 imize adverse significant economic impacts or maximize 

2 beneficial significant economic impacts on small entities. 

3 ‘‘(3) Such report shall become part of the rulemaking 

4 record. In the publication of the proposed rule, the agency 

5 shall explain what actions, if any, the agency took in re6 sponse to such report. 

7 ‘‘(e) A proposed rule is described by this subsection 

8 if the Administrator of the Office of Information and Reg9 ulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget, 

10 the head of the agency (or the delegatee of the head of 

11 the agency), or an independent regulatory agency deter12 mines that the proposed rule is likely to result in— 

13 ‘‘(1) an annual effect on the economy of $100 

14 million or more; 

15 ‘‘(2) a major increase in costs or prices for con16 sumers, individual industries, Federal, State, or local 

17 governments, tribal organizations, or geographic re18 gions; 

19 ‘‘(3) significant adverse effects on competition, 

20 employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or 

21 on the ability of United States-based enterprises to 

22 compete with foreign-based enterprises in domestic 

23 and export markets; or 

24 ‘‘(4) a significant economic impact on a sub25 stantial number of small entities. 


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1 ‘‘(f) Upon application by the agency, the Chief Coun2 sel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration 

3 may waive the requirements of subsections (b) through (e) 

4 if the Chief Counsel determines that compliance with the 

5 requirements of such subsections are impracticable, un6 necessary, or contrary to the public interest. 

7 ‘‘(g) A small entity or a representative of a small enti8 ty may submit a request that the agency provide a copy 

9 of the report prepared under subsection (d) and all mate10 rials and information provided to the Chief Counsel for 

11 Advocacy of the Small Business Administration under 

12 subsection (b). The agency receiving such request shall 

13 provide the report, materials and information to the re14 questing small entity or representative of a small entity 

15 not later than 10 business days after receiving such re16 quest, except that the agency shall not disclose any infor17 mation that is prohibited from disclosure to the public 

18 pursuant to section 552(b) of this title.’’. 

19 SEC. 307. PERIODIC REVIEW OF RULES. 

20 Section 610 of title 5, United States Code, is amend21 ed to read as follows: 

22 ‘‘§ 610. Periodic review of rules 

23 ‘‘(a) Not later than 180 days after the enactment of 

24 this section, each agency shall publish in the Federal Reg25 ister and place on its website a plan for the periodic review 


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1 of rules issued by the agency which the head of the agency 

2 determines have a significant economic impact on a sub3 stantial number of small entities. Such determination shall 

4 be made without regard to whether the agency performed 

5 an analysis under section 604. The purpose of the review 

6 shall be to determine whether such rules should be contin7 ued without change, or should be amended or rescinded, 

8 consistent with the stated objectives of applicable statutes, 

9 to minimize any adverse significant economic impacts or 

10 maximize any beneficial significant economic impacts on 

11 a substantial number of small entities. Such plan may be 

12 amended by the agency at any time by publishing the revi13 sion in the Federal Register and subsequently placing the 

14 amended plan on the agency’s website. 

15 ‘‘(b) The plan shall provide for the review of all such 

16 agency rules existing on the date of the enactment of this 

17 section within 10 years of the date of publication of the 

18 plan in the Federal Register and for review of rules adopt19 ed after the date of enactment of this section within 10 

20 years after the publication of the final rule in the Federal 

21 Register. If the head of the agency determines that com22 pletion of the review of existing rules is not feasible by 

23 the established date, the head of the agency shall so certify 

24 in a statement published in the Federal Register and may 

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1 cation of notice of extension in the Federal Register. Such 

2 certification and notice shall be sent to the Chief Counsel 

3 for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration and 

4 the Congress. 

5 ‘‘(c) The plan shall include a section that details how 

6 an agency will conduct outreach to and meaningfully in7 clude small businesses (including small business concerns 

8 owned and controlled by women, small business concerns 

9 owned and controlled by veterans, and small business con10 cerns owned and controlled by socially and economically 

11 disadvantaged individuals (as such terms are defined in 

12 the Small Business Act)) for the purposes of carrying out 

13 this section. The agency shall include in this section a plan 

14 for how the agency will contact small businesses and gath15 er their input on existing agency rules. 

16 ‘‘(d) Each agency shall annually submit a report re17 garding the results of its review pursuant to such plan 

18 to the Congress, the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the 

19 Small Business Administration, and, in the case of agen20 cies other than independent regulatory agencies (as de21 fined in section 3502(5) of title 44) to the Administrator 

22 of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of the 

23 Office of Management and Budget. Such report shall in24 clude the identification of any rule with respect to which 

25 the head of the agency made a determination described 


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1 in paragraph (5) or (6) of subsection (e) and a detailed 

2 explanation of the reasons for such determination. 

3 ‘‘(e) In reviewing a rule pursuant to subsections (a) 

4 through (d), the agency shall amend or rescind the rule 

5 to minimize any adverse significant economic impact on 

6 a substantial number of small entities or disproportionate 

7 economic impact on a specific class of small entities, or 

8 maximize any beneficial significant economic impact of the 

9 rule on a substantial number of small entities to the great10 est extent possible, consistent with the stated objectives 

11 of applicable statutes. In amending or rescinding the rule, 

12 the agency shall consider the following factors: 

13 ‘‘(1) The continued need for the rule. 

14 ‘‘(2) The nature of complaints received by the 

15 agency from small entities concerning the rule. 

16 ‘‘(3) Comments by the Regulatory Enforcement 

17 Ombudsman and the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of 

18 the Small Business Administration. 

19 ‘‘(4) The complexity of the rule. 

20 ‘‘(5) The extent to which the rule overlaps, du21 plicates, or conflicts with other Federal rules and, 

22 unless the head of the agency determines it to be in23 feasible, State, territorial, and local rules. 

24 ‘‘(6) The contribution of the rule to the cumu25 lative economic impact of all Federal rules on the 


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1 class of small entities affected by the rule, unless the 

2 head of the agency determines that such calculations 

3 cannot be made and reports that determination in 

4 the annual report required under subsection (d). 

5 ‘‘(7) The length of time since the rule has been 

6 evaluated or the degree to which technology, eco7 nomic conditions, or other factors have changed in 

8 the area affected by the rule. 

9 ‘‘(f) Each year, each agency shall publish in the Fed10 eral Register and on its website a list of rules to be re11 viewed pursuant to such plan. The agency shall include 

12 in the publication a solicitation of public comments on any 

13 further inclusions or exclusions of rules from the list, and 

14 shall respond to such comments. Such publication shall 

15 include a brief description of the rule, the reason why the 

16 agency determined that it has a significant economic im17 pact on a substantial number of small entities (without 

18 regard to whether it had prepared a final regulatory flexi19 bility analysis for the rule), and request comments from 

20 the public, the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small 

21 Business Administration, and the Regulatory Enforce22 ment Ombudsman concerning the enforcement of the 

23 rule.’’. 


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1 SEC. 308. JUDICIAL REVIEW OF COMPLIANCE WITH THE RE2 QUIREMENTS OF THE REGULATORY FLEXI3 BILITY ACT AVAILABLE AFTER PUBLICATION 

4 OF THE FINAL RULE. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 611(a) 

6 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by striking 

7 ‘‘final agency action’’ and inserting ‘‘such rule’’. 

8 (b) JURISDICTION.—Paragraph (2) of such section is 

9 amended by inserting ‘‘(or which would have such jurisdic10 tion if publication of the final rule constituted final agency 

11 action)’’ after ‘‘provision of law,’’. 

12 (c) TIME FOR BRINGING ACTION.—Paragraph (3) of 

13 such section is amended— 

14 (1) by striking ‘‘final agency action’’ and insert15 ing ‘‘publication of the final rule’’; and 

16 (2) by inserting ‘‘, in the case of a rule for 

17 which the date of final agency action is the same 

18 date as the publication of the final rule,’’ after ‘‘ex19 cept that’’. 

20 (d) INTERVENTION BY CHIEF COUNSEL FOR ADVO21 CACY.—Subsection (b) of section 612 of title 5, United 

22 States Code, is amended by inserting before the first pe23 riod ‘‘or agency compliance with section 601, 603, 604, 

24 605(b), 609, or 610’’. 


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1 SEC. 309. JURISDICTION OF COURT OF APPEALS OVER 

2 RULES IMPLEMENTING THE REGULATORY 

3 FLEXIBILITY ACT. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2342 of title 28, United 

5 States Code, is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

7 end; 

8 (2) in paragraph (7), by striking the period at 

9 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

10 (3) by inserting after paragraph (7) the fol11 lowing new paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(8) all final rules under section 608(a) of title 

13 5.’’. 

14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Paragraph (3) of 

15 section 2341 of title 28, United States Code, is amended— 

16 (1) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

17 the end; 

18 (2) in subparagraph (E), by striking the period 

19 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

20 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub21 paragraph: 

22 ‘‘(F) the Office of Advocacy of the Small 

23 Business Administration, when the final rule is 

24 under section 608(a) of title 5.’’. 

25 (c) AUTHORIZATION TO INTERVENE AND COMMENT

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1 DURE.—Subsection (b) of section 612 of title 5, United 

2 States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘chapter 5, and 

3 chapter 7,’’ after ‘‘this chapter,’’. 

4 SEC. 310. ESTABLISHMENT AND APPROVAL OF SMALL BUSI5 NESS CONCERN SIZE STANDARDS BY CHIEF 

6 COUNSEL FOR ADVOCACY. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (A) of section 

8 3(a)(2) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

9 632(a)(2)(A)) is amended to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the cri11 teria specified in paragraph (1)— 

12 ‘‘(i) the Administrator may specify de13 tailed definitions or standards by which a 

14 business concern may be determined to be 

15 a small business concern for purposes of 

16 this Act or the Small Business Investment 

17 Act of 1958; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) the Chief Counsel for Advocacy 

19 may specify such definitions or standards 

20 for purposes of any other Act.’’. 

21 (b) APPROVAL BY CHIEF COUNSEL.—Clause (iii) of 

22 section 3(a)(2)(C) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

23 632(a)(2)(C)(iii)) is amended to read as follows: 

24 ‘‘(iii) except in the case of a size 

25 standard prescribed by the Administrator, 


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1 is approved by the Chief Counsel for Advo2 cacy.’’. 

3 (c) INDUSTRY VARIATION.—Paragraph (3) of section 

4 3(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(a)(3)) is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) by inserting ‘‘or Chief Counsel for Advo7 cacy, as appropriate’’ before ‘‘shall ensure’’; and 

8 (2) by inserting ‘‘or Chief Counsel for Advo9 cacy’’ before the period at the end. 

10 (d) JUDICIAL REVIEW OF SIZE STANDARDS AP11 PROVED BY CHIEF COUNSEL.—Section 3(a) of the Small 

12 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(a)) is amended by adding 

13 at the end the following new paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(9) JUDICIAL REVIEW OF STANDARDS AP15 PROVED BY CHIEF COUNSEL.—In the case of an ac16 tion for judicial review of a rule which includes a 

17 definition or standard approved by the Chief Counsel 

18 for Advocacy under this subsection, the party seek19 ing such review shall be entitled to join the Chief 

20 Counsel as a party in such action.’’. 

21 SEC. 311. CLERICAL AMENDMENTS. 

22 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 601 of title 5, United 

23 States Code, is amended— 

24 (1) in paragraph (1)— 


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1 (A) by striking the semicolon at the end 

2 and inserting a period; and 

3 (B) by striking ‘‘(1) the term’’ and insert4 ing the following: 

5 ‘‘(1) AGENCY.—The term’’; 

6 (2) in paragraph (3)— 

7 (A) by striking the semicolon at the end 

8 and inserting a period; and 

9 (B) by striking ‘‘(3) the term’’ and insert10 ing the following: 

11 ‘‘(3) SMALL BUSINESS.—The term’’; 

12 (3) in paragraph (5)— 

13 (A) by striking the semicolon at the end 

14 and inserting a period; and 

15 (B) by striking ‘‘(5) the term’’ and insert16 ing the following: 

17 ‘‘(5) SMALL GOVERNMENTAL JURISDICTION.— 

18 The term’’; and 

19 (4) in paragraph (6)— 

20 (A) by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting a pe21 riod; and 

22 (B) by striking ‘‘(6) the term’’ and insert23 ing the following: 

24 ‘‘(6) SMALL ENTITY.—The term’’. 


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1 (b) INCORPORATIONS BY REFERENCE AND CERTIFI2 CATIONS.—The heading of section 605 of title 5, United 

3 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘§ 605. Incorporations by reference and certifi5 cations’’. 

6 (c) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections for 

7 chapter 6 of title 5, United States Code, is amended as 

8 follows: 

9 (1) By striking the item relating to section 605 

10 and inserting the following new item: 

‘‘605. Incorporations by reference and certifications.’’. 

11 (2) By striking the item relating to section 607 

12 and inserting the following new item: 

‘‘607. Quantification requirements.’’. 

13 (3) By striking the item relating to section 608 

14 and inserting the following: 

‘‘608. Additional powers of Chief Counsel for Advocacy.’’. 

15 (d) OTHER CLERICAL AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTER

16 6.—Chapter 6 of title 5, United States Code, is amended 

17 in section 603(d)— 

18 (1) by striking paragraph (2); 

19 (2) by striking ‘‘(1) For a covered agency,’’ and 

20 inserting ‘‘For a covered agency,’’; 

21 (3) by striking ‘‘(A) any’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) 

22 any’’; 


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1 (4) by striking ‘‘(B) any’’ and inserting ‘‘(2) 

2 any’’; and 

3 (5) by striking ‘‘(C) advice’’ and inserting ‘‘(3) 

4 advice’’. 

5 SEC. 312. AGENCY PREPARATION OF GUIDES. 

6 Section 212(a)(5) the Small Business Regulatory En7 forcement Fairness Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 601 note) is 

8 amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(5) AGENCY PREPARATION OF GUIDES.—The 

10 agency shall, in its sole discretion, taking into ac11 count the subject matter of the rule and the lan12 guage of relevant statutes, ensure that the guide is 

13 written using sufficiently plain language likely to be 

14 understood by affected small entities. Agencies may 

15 prepare separate guides covering groups or classes of 

16 similarly affected small entities and may cooperate 

17 with associations of small entities to distribute such 

18 guides. In developing guides, agencies shall solicit 

19 input from affected small entities or associations of 

20 affected small entities. An agency may prepare 

21 guides and apply this section with respect to a rule 

22 or a group of related rules.’’. 

23 SEC. 313. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT. 

24 Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 

25 of this title, the Comptroller General of the United States 


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1 shall complete and publish a study that examines whether 

2 the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Ad3 ministration has the capacity and resources to carry out 

4 the duties of the Chief Counsel under this title and the 

5 amendments made by this title. 

6 TITLE IV—REQUIRE EVALUA7 TION BEFORE IMPLE8 MENTING EXECUTIVE 

9 WISHLISTS ACT 

10 SEC. 401. SHORT TITLE. 

11 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Require Evaluation 

12 before Implementing Executive Wishlists Act’’ or as the 

13 ‘‘REVIEW Act’’. 

14 SEC. 402. RELIEF PENDING REVIEW. 

15 Section 705 of title 5, United States Code, is amend16 ed— 

17 (1) by striking ‘‘When’’ and inserting the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—When’’; and 

20 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(b) HIGH-IMPACT RULES.— 

22 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

23 ‘‘(A) the term ‘Administrator’ means the 

24 Administrator of the Office of Information and 


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1 Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management 

2 and Budget; and 

3 ‘‘(B) the term ‘high-impact rule’ means 

4 any rule that the Administrator determines may 

5 impose an annual cost on the economy of not 

6 less than $1,000,000,000. 

7 ‘‘(2) IDENTIFICATION.—A final rule may not be 

8 published or take effect until the agency making the 

9 rule submits the rule to the Administrator and the 

10 Administrator makes a determination as to whether 

11 the rule is a high-impact rule, which shall be pub12 lished by the agency with the final rule. 

13 ‘‘(3) RELIEF.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

15 subparagraph (B), an agency shall postpone the 

16 effective date of a high-impact rule of the agen17 cy until the final disposition of all actions seek18 ing judicial review of the rule. 

19 ‘‘(B) FAILURE TO TIMELY SEEK JUDICIAL

20 REVIEW.—Notwithstanding section 553(i), if no 

21 person seeks judicial review of a high-impact 

22 rule— 

23 ‘‘(i) during any period explicitly pro24 vided for judicial review under the statute 

25 authorizing the making of the rule; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) if no such period is explicitly pro2 vided for, during the 60-day period begin3 ning on the date on which the high-impact 

4 rule is published in the Federal Register, 

5 the high-impact rule may take effect as early as 

6 the date on which the applicable period ends. 

7 ‘‘(4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

8 this subsection may be construed to impose any limi9 tation under law on any court against the issuance 

10 of any order enjoining the implementation of any 

11 rule.’’. 

12 TITLE V—ALL ECONOMIC REGU13 LATIONS ARE TRANSPARENT 

14 ACT 

15 SEC. 501. SHORT TITLE. 

16 This title may be cited as the ‘‘All Economic Regula17 tions are Transparent Act’’ or the ‘‘ALERT Act’’. 

18 SEC. 502. OFFICE OF INFORMATION AND REGULATORY AF19 FAIRS PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION RE20 LATING TO RULES. 

21 (a) AMENDMENT.—Title 5, United States Code, is 

22 amended by inserting after chapter 6, the following new 

23 chapter: 


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1 ‘‘CHAPTER 6A—OFFICE OF INFORMATION 

2 AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS PUBLICA3 TION OF INFORMATION RELATING TO 

4 RULES 

‘‘Sec. 651. Agency monthly submission to office of information and regulatory 

affairs. 

‘‘Sec. 652. Office of information and regulatory affairs publications. 

‘‘Sec. 653. Requirement for rules to appear in agency-specific monthly publication. 

‘‘Sec. 654. Definitions. 

5 ‘‘SEC. 651. AGENCY MONTHLY SUBMISSION TO OFFICE OF 

6 INFORMATION AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS. 

7 ‘‘On a monthly basis, the head of each agency shall 

8 submit to the Administrator of the Office of Information 

9 and Regulatory Affairs (referred to in this chapter as the 

10 ‘Administrator’), in such a manner as the Administrator 

11 may reasonably require, the following information: 

12 ‘‘(1) For each rule that the agency expects to 

13 propose or finalize during the 12-month period fol14 lowing the month covered by the monthly submis15 sion: 

16 ‘‘(A) A summary of the nature of the rule, 

17 including the regulation identifier number and 

18 the docket number for the rule. 

19 ‘‘(B) The objectives of and legal basis for 

20 the issuance of the rule, including— 

21 ‘‘(i) any statutory or judicial deadline; 

22 and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) whether the legal basis restricts 

2 or precludes the agency from conducting 

3 an analysis of the costs or benefits of the 

4 rule during the rule making, and if not, 

5 whether the agency plans to conduct an 

6 analysis of the costs or benefits of the rule 

7 during the rule making. 

8 ‘‘(C) Whether the agency plans to claim an 

9 exemption from the requirements of section 553 

10 pursuant to section 553(g)(2)(A). 

11 ‘‘(D) The stage of the rule making as of 

12 the date of submission. 

13 ‘‘(E) Whether the rule is subject to review 

14 under section 610. 

15 ‘‘(2) For any rule for which the agency expects 

16 to finalize during the 12-month period following the 

17 month covered by the monthly submission and has 

18 issued a general notice of proposed rule making— 

19 ‘‘(A) an approximate schedule for com20 pleting action on the rule; 

21 ‘‘(B) an estimate of whether the rule will 

22 cost— 

23 ‘‘(i) less than $50,000,000; 

24 ‘‘(ii) $50,000,000 or more but less 

25 than $100,000,000; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) $100,000,000 or more but less 

2 than $500,000,000; 

3 ‘‘(iv) $500,000,000 or more but less 

4 than $1,000,000,000; 

5 ‘‘(v) $1,000,000,000 or more but less 

6 than $5,000,000,000; 

7 ‘‘(vi) $5,000,000,000 or more but less 

8 than $10,000,000,000; or 

9 ‘‘(vii) $10,000,000,000 or more; 

10 ‘‘(C) any estimate of the economic effects 

11 of the rule, including the imposition of un12 funded mandates and any estimate of the net 

13 effect that the rule will have on the number of 

14 jobs in the United States, that was considered 

15 in drafting the rule, or, if no such estimate is 

16 available, a statement affirming that no infor17 mation on the economic effects, including the 

18 effect on the number of jobs, of the rule has 

19 been considered; and 

20 ‘‘(D) a list of all influential scientific infor21 mation disseminated or expected to be dissemi22 nated by the agency relating to the rule, includ23 ing any peer review plans for the information, 

24 including— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the date the information or peer 

2 review was or is expected to be received by 

3 the agency; 

4 ‘‘(ii) the date the information or peer 

5 review was publically disclosed or is ex6 pected to be publically disclosed, and, if 

7 that date is altered in subsequent reports, 

8 a brief explanation for the change; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) the Internet address of the in10 formation or peer review completed and 

11 disclosed or of where the information or 

12 peer review will be found, once completed 

13 and disclosed. 

14 ‘‘SEC. 652. OFFICE OF INFORMATION AND REGULATORY AF15 FAIRS PUBLICATIONS. 

16 ‘‘(a) AGENCY-SPECIFIC INFORMATION PUBLISHED

17 MONTHLY.—Not later than 30 days after the submission 

18 of information pursuant to section 651, the Administrator 

19 shall make such information publicly available on the 

20 Internet. 

21 ‘‘(b) CUMULATIVE ASSESSMENT OF AGENCY RULE

22 MAKING PUBLISHED ANNUALLY.— 

23 ‘‘(1) PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REG24 ISTER.—Not later than October 1 of each year, the 


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1 Administrator shall publish in the Federal Register 

2 the following, with respect to the previous year: 

3 ‘‘(A) The information that the Adminis4 trator received from the head of each agency 

5 under section 651. 

6 ‘‘(B) The number of rules and a list of 

7 each such rule— 

8 ‘‘(i) that was proposed by each agen9 cy, including, for each such rule, an indica10 tion of whether the issuing agency con11 ducted an analysis of the costs or benefits 

12 of the rule; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) that was finalized by each agen14 cy, including for each such rule an indica15 tion of whether— 

16 ‘‘(I) the issuing agency conducted 

17 an analysis of the costs or benefits of 

18 the rule; 

19 ‘‘(II) the agency claimed an ex20 emption from the procedures under 

21 section 553 pursuant to section 

22 553(g)(2)(A); and 

23 ‘‘(III) the rule was issued pursu24 ant to a statutory mandate or the rule 


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1 making is committed to agency discre2 tion by law. 

3 ‘‘(C) The number of agency actions and a 

4 list of each such action taken by each agency 

5 that— 

6 ‘‘(i) repealed a rule; 

7 ‘‘(ii) reduced the scope of a rule; 

8 ‘‘(iii) reduced the cost of a rule; or 

9 ‘‘(iv) accelerated the expiration date 

10 of a rule. 

11 ‘‘(D) The total cost (without reducing the 

12 cost by any offsetting benefits) of all rules pro13 posed or finalized, the total cost of any un14 funded mandates imposed by all such rules, and 

15 the number of rules for which an estimate of 

16 the cost of the rule was not available. 

17 ‘‘(2) PUBLICATION ON THE INTERNET.—Not 

18 later than October 1 of each year, the Administrator 

19 shall make publicly available on the Internet the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(A) The analysis of the costs or benefits, 

22 if conducted, for each proposed rule or final 

23 rule issued by an agency for the previous year. 


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1 ‘‘(B) The docket number and regulation 

2 identifier number for each proposed or final 

3 rule issued by an agency for the previous year. 

4 ‘‘(C) The number of rules and a list of 

5 each such rule reviewed by the Director of the 

6 Office of Management and Budget for the pre7 vious year, and the authority under which each 

8 such review was conducted. 

9 ‘‘(D) The number of rules and a list of 

10 each such rule for which the head of an agency 

11 completed a review under section 610 for the 

12 previous year. 

13 ‘‘(E) The number of rules and a list of 

14 each such rule submitted to the Comptroller 

15 General under section 801. 

16 ‘‘(F) The number of rules and a list of 

17 each such rule for which a resolution of dis18 approval was introduced in either the House of 

19 Representatives or the Senate under section 

20 802. 

21 ‘‘SEC. 653. REQUIREMENT FOR RULES TO APPEAR IN AGEN22 CY-SPECIFIC MONTHLY PUBLICATION. 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), a rule 

24 may not take effect until the information required to be 

25 made publicly available on the Internet regarding such 


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1 rule pursuant to section 652(a) has been so available for 

2 not less than 6 months. 

3 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.—The requirement of subsection 

4 (a) shall not apply in the case of a rule— 

5 ‘‘(1) for which the agency issuing the rule 

6 claims an exception under section 553(g)(2)(A); or 

7 ‘‘(2) which the President determines by Execu8 tive order should take effect because the rule is— 

9 ‘‘(A) necessary because of an imminent 

10 threat to health or safety or other emergency; 

11 ‘‘(B) necessary for the enforcement of 

12 criminal laws; 

13 ‘‘(C) necessary for national security; or 

14 ‘‘(D) issued pursuant to any statute imple15 menting an international trade agreement. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 654. DEFINITIONS. 

17 ‘‘In this chapter, the terms ‘agency’, ‘agency action’, 

18 ‘rule’, and ‘rule making’ have the meanings given those 

19 terms in section 551, and the term ‘unfunded mandate’ 

20 has the meaning given the term ‘Federal mandate’ in sec21 tion 421(6) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 

22 U.S.C. 658(6)).’’. 

23 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

24 The table of chapters for part I of title 5, United States 


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1 Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to 

2 chapter 5, the following: 

‘‘6. The Analysis of Regulatory Functions ............................................. 601

‘‘6A. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Publication of Information Relating to Rules .......................................... 651’’. 

3 (c) EFFECTIVE DATES.— 

4 (1) AGENCY MONTHLY SUBMISSION TO THE OF5 FICE OF INFORMATION AND REGULATORY AF6 FAIRS.—The first submission required pursuant to 

7 section 651 of title 5, United States Code, as added 

8 by subsection (a), shall be submitted not later than 

9 30 days after the date of the enactment of this title, 

10 and monthly thereafter. 

11 (2) CUMULATIVE ASSESSMENT OF AGENCY

12 RULE MAKING.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (b) of sec14 tion 652 of title 5, United States Code, as 

15 added by subsection (a), shall take effect on the 

16 date that is 60 days after the date of the enact17 ment of this title. 

18 (B) DEADLINE.—The first requirement to 

19 publish or make available, as the case may be, 

20 under subsection (b) of section 652 of title 5, 

21 United States Code, as added by subsection (a), 

22 shall be the first October 1 after the effective 

23 date of such subsection. 


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1 (C) FIRST PUBLICATION.—The require2 ment under section 652(b)(2)(A) of title 5, 

3 United States Code, as added by subsection (a), 

4 shall include for the first publication, any anal5 ysis of the costs or benefits conducted for a 

6 proposed or final rule, for the 10 years before 

7 the date of the enactment of this title. 

8 (3) REQUIREMENT FOR RULES TO APPEAR IN

9 AGENCY-SPECIFIC MONTHLY PUBLICATION.—Section 

10 653 of title 5, United States Code, as added by sub11 section (a), shall take effect on the date that is 8 

12 months after the date of the enactment of this title. 

13 TITLE VI—PROVIDING ACCOUNT14 ABILITY THROUGH TRANS15 PARENCY ACT 

16 SEC. 601. SHORT TITLE. 

17 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Providing Account18 ability Through Transparency Act’’. 

19 SEC. 602. REQUIREMENT TO POST A 100 WORD SUMMARY 

20 TO REGULATIONS.GOV. 

21 Section 553(d)(1) of title 5, United States Code, as 

22 inserted by section 103(b) of this Act, is amended— 

23 (1) in subparagraph (G)(iv) by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

24 and inserting ‘‘;’’; 


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1 (2) in subparagraph (H)(ii), by striking the pe2 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (H) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(I) the internet address of a summary of 

6 not more than 100 words in length of the pro7 posed rule, in plain language, that shall be 

8 posted on the internet website under section 

9 206(d) of the E–Government Act of 2002 (44 

10 U.S.C. 3501 note) (commonly known as regula11 tions.gov).’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives January 11, 

2017. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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